Laurie Cameron
Certified Coach & Master Certified Relationship Coach
The Journey From Fear to Love
Weekly WAKE UP Call!
November 24, 2008
EXTREME GRATITUDE
What a wonderful time of year!
This is the time of year when we gather together with our families, friends and communities to give thanks for all the things in our lives that we're grateful for.
We acknowledge our appreciation to the people we love, we express gratitude for our abundance and prosperity, and we reflect on the goodness in our lives. For at least one day out of the year, we do a pretty good job of focusing on what's going right in our lives.
On closer reflection, I've also come to realize that this is only half the picture of true Gratitude.
We've created a culture that's conditioned to be grateful for whatever we label as the "good" things in life. And we avoid - often at any cost - whatever we consider "painful." We deny, escape, medicate and rationalize it away.
WHAT'S MISSING?
What we're missing when we do that is the opportunity to practice EXTREME GRATITUDE.
What makes it extreme? It's extreme when you can express genuine gratitude in the midst of a dramatic divorce. It's extreme when you find reasons to be grateful for the car accident that put you in the hospital. It's extreme to actively seek the gifts in being laid off your job.
Gratitude is always a choice. And Extreme Gratitude is often a challenging choice.
Extreme Gratitude DOES NOT deny, ignore, or dismiss what has happened. It DOES NOT imply agreement, consent, or resignation. And it certainly DOES NOT dictate how your future will unfold.
Extreme Gratitude DOES, however, require your unconditional acceptance that you cannot change the past. And it DOES provide you with a pristine moment of pure freedom of choice: you ALWAYS have a choice in how you respond to whatever has happened or is happening.
THE BENEFITS
So what are the benefits of practicing Extreme Gratitude? What's in it for you to find the gifts in a divorce, a lay-off, an accident or an illness?
For starters, your health is up for grabs. It's common knowledge that mental and emotional stresses manifest in a wide variety of physical diseases and maladies. We also know that relaxation and adopting a positive outlook has a healing effect on the body. And, simply put, gratitude is more relaxing than worry.
You also create more opportunities for creative solutions and responses. Being in the "can't" mentality of worry, fear and negative thinking is like driving your potential right into a brick wall. It's a swift and absolute dead end.
On the other hand, accepting the reality of the moment and actively seeking out the gifts in adversity opens up the floodgates and gets the creative juices flowing - and sometimes gushing - so you can put your energy into a solution or an alternative to the "problem."
THE CHALLENGE
So can you be thankful for the most difficult relationship in your life because it has taught you patience and how to set healthy boundaries? Can you be thankful for economic challenge because it's forced you to redefine your priorities, and you've become clearer on what's most important in your life? Can you be thankful for your health challenges because you've learned how to take better care of yourself? Can you be thankful for whatever "disaster" has occurred in your life because of the gifts it has given you?
Or are you thinking that Extreme Gratitude is too big of a leap? If so, try this smaller step: from disaster and panic to neutral. Step out of the emotions to see just the facts of the situation, as if you were an outside observer. See it as if you were a scientist gathering data. Can you see new options? Can you find a way through or out of the adversity? If so, Gratitude is a natural next step.
Here's your WAKE UP CALL to ACTION:
Think about the challenges and obstacles in your own life, both past and current. What were or are the gifts? How are you a better, smarter, healthier, and happier person as a result of facing those challenges? Be honest and let the creative juices flow!
My Thanksgiving Prayer For You:
May every day of your life be a day of Thanksgiving - for ALL the gifts: small and large, obvious and subtle, easy and challenging.
(c) 2008 Laurie Cameron. All rights in all media reserved
NOTE: you have my permission to share or reprint this article, as long as you include the following byline at the end of it:
Laurie Cameron, CC, MCRC, is Your "Evolutionary Relationship" Expert! She's ready to help you eliminate heartache and drama from all your relationships... FOREVER! Contact her at 303-740-0352, or Catalyst (at) LaurieCameron (dot) com. Website: www.LaurieCameron.com ; Blog: http://TodayIChooseLove.com; Book: www.TheJourneyFromFearToLove.com.
(c) 2008 Laurie Cameron & WAKE UP! Enterprises. All rights in all media reserved. You may share this article as long as you keep it intact (no editing) and include this entire byline at the end.
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